"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world." - L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
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"Heard you, uh, beat some'a the guys in a drinkin' contest," Eugene spoke into the short silence that had fallen. He had come across Juliette wandering along the outskirts of the village; she had been walking, lost in thought, for so long that she hadn't even realised she'd reached the opposite side, right where the army's medical tents were set up.
Juliette giggled, swinging her legs where they hung off of the table she perched on whilst she watched him roll bandages. "Beat? More like slaughtered. Henry and I absolutely obliterated them, Gene. Destroyed them."
"Destroyed their pride, more like," Eugene commented drily. He shot Juliette a small smile when he heard her laugh. "They've been goin' on and on about it since."
"Why weren't you there?" she wondered, rolling the fabric of the skirt of her dress between two fingers. She had just been sent a new one, which was technically supposed to be reserved for missions, but it was so different to what she was used to she was desperate to wear it just once before it likely got blood all over it in the field and was rendered useless. It was patterned with cherries which matched her lipstick, and when she wore it she felt like the young woman her younger self had imagined she'd become. It was a feeling that filled her with an unexplainable warmth.
Eugene shrugged. "I was on inventory for the night. Sad to have missed it considerin' everythin' I hear went down."
Juliette tilted her head as she watched him pick up more bandages to roll. "What is it you hear 'went down'?" she asked, before sighing abruptly. "Gene, will you really not let me help? I have two hands, a pair of eyes, and an, admittedly, below-average amount of common sense, but I'm sure I can roll some bandages."
Eugene rolled his eyes. "If someone comes in here and catches me slackin' off and lettin' you do my job I'll get in more trouble than it's worth." He sent her a pointed look which shut her up and went back to his work. "Anyway, heard you rejected Liebgott. It's basically all Guarnere can talk about."
Juliette hummed. "Do they not get along? Bill and Joe?"
Eugene shrugged. "They run in different circles. There was an incident on the ship on the way here, though. They had a fight over somethin' and I guess they've not talked that much since."
"Both big characters?" she wondered.
Eugene laughed and hummed his affirmation. "Mm-hm."
"Who's your best friend in the company?" Juliette then asked. She took the time to glance around at the tent and see what they had. No one on her team was a medical specialist but they had had to learn some of the basics in training in case anything should happen in the field. She'd had to remove bullets and wrap wounds more often than she'd have liked to admit, so she was interested to see what materials were generally considered appropriate to do those things with.
Meanwhile, Eugene paused before finally shrugging. "I, uh, I try not to get too close. I'm gonna have to save their lives one day, wanna make sure I'm not so sentimental that I can't do my job."
Juliette nodded her understanding, sad though the sentiment was. Perhaps, she thought, that was why he'd allowed her so close; she was a friend he could have without the worry that one day she'd be dying in his arms and he would be the one solely responsible for saving her life. She smiled to think that their friendship was mutually beneficial, as thus far she had only considered herself to be the one getting anything out of it.
"You're going to make a brilliant medic, Gene," she told him sincerely, reading how difficult he was finding it in his expression. He tried to hide it, but she'd gotten good at reading people from being undercover for so long. "You're going to do a lot of good in the war."
Eugene sent her a smile but didn't say any more, and they fell into a comfortable silence for a while.
A little while later Juliette decided to start heading back to the house lest Alexis should come out looking for her, and opted for the faster route through the village centre instead of the more scenic route around its circumference. She was taking in the buzz of activity in the main square when someone came up beside her.
"How's the headache?"
She sent George a grin. "It seems to have returned all of a sudden, actually."
George only laughed. "You're real cute when you insult me. Do it again."
Juliette rolled her eyes whilst George went on, ever the chatterbox, talking a mile a minute about this conversation he'd had and that old man he'd met. She tried desperately to keep up before deciding to let him wear himself out.
"God, do you have a lengthy internal monologue," she eventually commented when he paused for breath. He laughed brightly.
"Yeah, I can talk almost better than I can do anything else. My mom used to make me play the 'be quiet' game all the time as a kid."
Juliette laughed. "My mum did the same when I was little, funnily enough. That's an obscure memory you've awoken, there."
George grinned. "Those are the best kind." He looked from her to across the way and his eyes seemed to catch on something of interest, for he turned back to her with mischief on his face. "So, I saw you makin' eyes at one Floyd Talbert across the bar the other night."
Juliette almost choked on her intake of breath. "What?!"
George only laughed. "You heard. And don't try and deny it, now, I saw it with my own two eyes."
Juliette rolled her eyes. "I was not making 'eyes' at all! He was the first of you lot that I met, is all, so I was just smiling at him."
Much to her annoyance he seemed exceedingly pleased with himself at the reaction he'd gotten out of her. "Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, doll."
"I'm allowed to smile at people, George," she told him.
He shrugged. "Never said you weren't."
"Oh, sod off, would you?"
"Well if I wasn't sure before I sure am now. You're gettin' awful defensive." He was grinning practically from ear to ear.
"Why are you so intent on proving to yourself that I fancy Floyd? I thought we were engaged, George."
George over-exaggerated a whimsical sigh. "Yeah, well, you have scary friends. I'm gonna start turning my attentions onto less dangerous targets."
Now it was Juliette who grinned. "On, say, a certain redheaded barmaid, for instance?" He wasn't the only one who had been keeping tabs on the room that night at the pub; it was a habit she'd been taught to adopt in training, and she had certainly noticed his attention flicking to Mary more frequently than could be regarded as purely coincidental.
"Why, did she say somethin' to you?"
"Aha! Who's making eyes now?"
"'Aha'?" he imitated her, rather accurately she would never admit. "What are you, a detective?"
"A spy," she corrected. He laughed, she smirked. Oh, the irony. "Anyway, don't change the subject. You fancy Mary, no?"
"'Fancy'," he mocked with a smirk. "What is it with you Brits and 'fancy'?"
"What is it with you yanks and just saying 'like'? It's so ambiguous. I know which verb I'd prefer and it's the one that leaves no room for confusion. Now answer the question, George."
He shrugged. "Sure, I think she's cute. But don't go sayin' anything to her - mystery is part of my charm."
Juliette snorted. "Mystery? George, you just rattled off everything you did in the three days I didn't see you in such vivid detail I feel like everything you said is my own memory."
"Right, well, you're a girl -"
"How nice of you to notice."
"Yeah, I'm full of compliments. So, what do you think? How should I approach this?"
Juliette laughed. "This next piece of advice I give you is going to change your life. I will single-handedly ensure that every relationship you have henceforth will last longer than any you've had previously, okay?"
"Right."
"Be yourself."
"Jesus Christ! What the fuck would I do that for?"
Juliette burst into giggles and George stopped to wait for her whilst she tried to get ahold of herself, smiling brightly as he watched her all the while. When, eventually, she had her giggles back under control, they carried on walking.
"You'll have to just trust me on this one, okay? But don't come on too strong," Juliette advised him. She watched his profile as he furrowed his eyebrows comically.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
She laughed and put on her best American accent, deepening her voice all the while, "'Hi, I'm George Luz and I'm gonna marry you someday!' - That is what you said, isn't it?"
George was laughing when she looked back at him. "That impression was so bad. Oh my God, that was so bad."
"That wasn't my point! I'm trying to help you here!" Juliette exclaimed, exasperated. Then she huffed out a sigh. "Right, next time you go to the pub let me know and I'll brief you. Don't look at me like that, I'm the closest you're going to get to knowing what's actually going to woo her."
"Did you just say 'woo'?"
Juliette looked up to the sky dramatically. "Lord, give me the strength not to punch this man in the face, amen."
George laughed. "Alright. But next time we go out you're coming too. No excuses. And I'll put in a good word with Tab for ya." He winked.
"You better not!" Juliette exclaimed and smacked him lightly on the arm. When he laughed loudly she hit him again. "George!" He just kept on laughing, though, and she watched him walk away with an amused grin growing slowly on her face too.